


Foundations

by BenSomeday



Series: A Twisted Time-Travel AU [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Ben loves quadducks, Building a Happy Family, F/M, Grandma Padmé Amidala, Grandpa Anakin Skywalker, Little Ben is Adorable, Parents Han and Leia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26566780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BenSomeday/pseuds/BenSomeday
Summary: Anakin and Padmé have returned from the future. They know what they have to do and their choices will alter the future of their children and grandson, hopefully for the better.
Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: A Twisted Time-Travel AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815751
Comments: 32
Kudos: 93





	Foundations

The view of Coruscant from the Senate-appointed apartment never failed to make Anakin feel like he was standing in the center of the universe. The constant movement, noise and light had a way of making everything in the city-planet pulse with an energy unlike anything else he had ever felt in the galaxy.

Honestly, he sort of hated it.

It had been nearly three weeks since he and Padmé had returned from the future. In that time, Anakin had been studying everything he could about the Force, ancient Force users and their sects and even about the Sith. Now that he knew what they would be facing, he knew that he needed to understand what the Sith believed and how and why they used the Force the way they did. Interestingly, Padmé had been enthusiastically supportive of all of his endeavours, even the last one. She had told him, when he asked, that by knowing what to expect from someone who had fallen to the Dark, he might be better equipped to stop himself from going the same way.

It made sense and, honestly, he was beginning to see just how far-gone he had already gotten in his involvement with Palpatine. He understood, now, just how utterly manipulative Palpatine was and how deeply he had gotten into Anakin’s head. His dreams, that had felt so real and so true, he now knew were a lie. Whether Padmé had ever truly been in danger of dying during childbirth, he did not know. What he did know was that in trying to prevent it from happening, Anakin had ended up causing it directly.

This was one of the first lessons that he had grasped onto in his mission to unravel the lies, half-truths and misunderstanding that he was getting from both Palpatine  _ and  _ the Jedi. Anakin had truly never been one for honest self-reflection but he knew without any doubt that he absolutely had to become someone like that now. He would fail if he did not and he refused to allow his family to suffer because of him.

Never again.

At the sound of the door to the apartment opening behind him, Anakin grinned. He could feel Obi-Wan’s apprehension but also his excitement at what they were about to do.

It had taken less time and even less explanation than Akakin had thought it would to get Obi-Wan on board with his plans. In truth, he had expected his friend and mentor to try to talk him out of it as best and try to stop him at worst. Instead, Obi-Wan had listened patiently, asking pointed but honest questions and had even offered his own insights and opinions on what both Anakin and Padmé had learned during their foray into the future. Then Anakin had explained to both of them what he wanted to do, how he needed to leave the Jedi and what path he now knew he needed to take. 

When all was said and done, Akain had found himself with steadfast allies in the two people he loved most in the galaxy. It was a heady feeling to be believed in and trusted so completely.

“Are you ready, my friend?” Obi-Wan asked, stepping up next to Anakin on the balcony and clasping his shoulder.

Anakin glanced once more at the hub-bub of the city below, then turned to Obi-Wan.

“I am,” he said, feeling calmer and more centered than he had ever felt in his life.

Obi-Wan grinned at him, the tense line of his shoulders dropping away.

“Then let us be off,” he said.

*****

Padmé entered the secluded meeting room just before the doors closed. It wasn’t like her to run so late but she had been extremely busy the last few weeks and there simply were not enough hours in the day. Her near-tardiness did not go unnoticed by the few in the room but no one said a word. Padmé’s reputation as a no-nonsense, diligent and principled Senator preceded her. 

If Padmé Naberrie was late, there was a damned good reason.

Taking her seat next to Bail, she pulled her holopad out and flicked through it to the notes she had prepared for the day’s meeting. Briefly, her thoughts turned to Anakin and Obi-Wan. Though she had desperately wanted to be there with them, today of all days, Anakin himself had told her not to worry over it. She knew he was right. What she was to do in this meeting would either make or break their plans concerning how to deal with Palpatine and his machinations. Anakin and Obi-Wan both held out little hope that the Jedi Council would take them seriously and, even if they did, they expected the Council would do little to nothing to counter Palpatine. The Council was simply too set in their ways and their way, for the last few centuries, had been to watch the goings-on and not intervene when they really should have.

“Let us call this meeting to order.” Called Senator Mon Mothma. “As you all know, this is not a sanctioned meeting and we have all come here at the behest of our esteemed colleague, Senator Padmé Amidala, to hear a matter of great concern to her. Please let it be known that Senator Amidala wishes for anyone who desires to leave to do so now, as what she is to discuss with us could very well be considered treason against the Chancellor if he learned of it.”

When no one made even the hint of a move to leave or to question the holding of such a meeting, Mon Mothma continued.

“Thank you, Senators, friends and allies,” she nodded to Padmé as she sat.

Padmé stood. She looked around at the small gathering and was pleased to see most of the faces of those on whom she had called. Though there were a few missing that she had hoped would hear her out, the fact that eight had come was a blessing.

“I would like to begin,” Padmé said, “by telling you a story. It would be impossible to believe, even for me, had I not experienced it myself. I hope that you will hear me out and judge what I say based on the merits and weight of it and not on any preconceived notions of fantasy.”

“Fantasy?” Asked Senator Chuchi. “We all know you to be a pragmatic and honest person, Senator, I am not sure what you mean by notions of fantasy.”

Padmé nodded in acknowledgement.

“There are many things that we do not understand in the galaxy and I know, for most of us, the Force is one of those things.”

That was all she needed to say. Riyo Chuchi sat back in her seat, seemingly satisfied with the answer and gave her a small smile of acknowledgement as the rest of those present muttered affirmations amongst themselves.

“And so,” Padmé said and the room quieted once more, “I begin the story of how I met my grandson. In the future.”

At that, the room exploded with questions and cries of disbelief and Padmé wondered if the dramatic nature of her husband, and even her grandson, had not rubbed off on her. She smiled to herself and took a sip of her tea, waiting until things calmed down so she could continue.

She wondered how Anakin was doing.

*****

Obi-Wan was pacing. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Anakin watched with amusement from his place leaning against the wall next to the door of the Council room.

Back and forth.

Obi-Wan stopped and shot Anakin a look of consternation. He could, no doubt, feel Anakin’s mirth.

“Why aren’t you more,” Obi-Wan waved his hands around, as though that was the best way to complete his question.

Anakin pushed himself off of the wall and walked over to his oldest and dearest friend. Placing his hands on Obi-Wan’s shoulders, he squeezed.

“Because,” he said, “whatever the Council decides, that does not change how I am going to act. If they decide to take this threat seriously, that simply means we have allies here. If not, we have planned for such and will continue on with those plans. My path is chosen, Obi-Wan, and the Council will not and cannot change it. I follow the Force now, not the Jedi.”

Obi-Wan stared at him as though seeing him for the first time.

“You have truly changed, my friend,” he said, “There is peace in you now that was not there before. A sort of...resolve. What happened to you, both of you, helped you in ways I never could.”

Anakin sighed. After he had told Obi-Wan about his fall, about what he knew of their own falling-out because of it, Obi-Wan had blamed himself. He had been more than upset, of course he had, to learn that his Padawan had fallen to the Darkness but, even more, he had been wrought with guilt over the fact that he had not seen it until it was far too late. Anakin and Padmé had both had to remind him that that was how Palptaine worked. He used the Darkness to shield himself from the eyes of the Jedi Council and from those closest to Anakin. Eventually, Obi-Wan had conceded the fact and had let it go.

_ ‘Perhaps not completely,’ _ thought Anakin,  _ ‘not as I had hoped.’ _

“Had it not been for you,” Anakin said, forcing Obi-Wan to look him in the eye, “I would have fallen long before I did. Your light, your friendship and your love helped keep me in the Light far longer than I otherwise would have been. Do not doubt yourself, my Brother.”

Obi-Wan looked close to tears and Anakin knew that he had won.

“Yes another reason,” the older man said, “the Jedi are wrong, I suppose.” At Anakin’s questioning gaze, he went on. “To not form attachments is antithetical to what it means to be a living being, to be alive at all. It is our attachments to others that keep us going, that help lift us when we need it most.”

Anakin grinned widely.

“Now you’re getting it,” he quipped and Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at him.

The door opened behind them and they both turned.

“The Council will see you now,” the page said and motioned them inside.

Sharing one last look, Anakin and Obi-Wan took the first step.

*****

The room was quiet. As she glanced over the faces of her friends and colleagues, Padmé wished, briefly, that she could hear what they were thinking.

“I will not…” Senator Eeusu Estonii began, then stopped. She furrowed her brow, then continued. “I will not pretend to understand the Force and what it is capable of…” she took a deep breath and looked straight at Padmé, her black eyes stern but warm, “and because of that, and your reputation Amidala, I can only take this story of yours as the truth.” 

Padmé let out a relieved breath. The Senator from Ord Zeuol was one that Padmé had been least sure of when she reached out to like-minded people. To know that she was now on their side, at least for the moment, was monumental.

Before Padmé could reply, another voice spoke.

“I concur,” said Bail Organa, “I have known the Senator for many, many years and never once have I witnessed flights of fancy or questionable positions from her. Indeed, she is one of the few of us that has been on the right side of history the majority of the time. I know little of the Force but I do know that there is a darkness out there, something evil is brewing, and we must take action now and do what we can to prevent it.”

Padmé opened her mouth to speak when, once again, another spoke before she could.

“Can we, though?” Questioned a young woman near the end of the table. “Can we stop him, stop the Empire from happening?”

Mira Bridger was a transcriber for the Senate chamber and Padmé had known her to be outspoken in her distrust in the Chancellor’s actions of late. Though she did not hold a high position in the Senate, she was intelligent and held a wealth of information at her fingertips due to her position. Padmé had gone to her as soon as she had left Bail Organa’s office and asked her to this meeting. The young woman had been, at first, bewildered that such a high-profile Senator as Padmé was even speaking to her but had quickly aquisenced to the meeting.

“I doubt it,” Padmé said honestly, finally able to speak. There were several grumbles of frustration at the proclamation. She lifted her hands in supplication and they quieted. “In truth, unless the Jedi Council believes the two Jedi who have gone to them with this information and they agree to take action, I do not believe we will be able to stop the Empire from happening.”

Padmé, while honest in her what she had told the others about her time in future and what she had learned of Palpatine and the Empire, had left out many things that she did not believe were their business. Anakin’s involvement could be addressed later, if need be.

“Then what is the point of this?” Mira replied. “Why bring us together and tell us of what is coming if not to prevent it?”

Padmé smiled wryly. “I said we could not likely prevent it. Not now. If we had discovered the truth a year ago, yes, maybe. But it is far too late now. But,” she waved the slowly rising protests down, “that does not mean we cannot prepare for it and that does not mean we cannot fight the Empire as it rises.”

Mira nodded once, sharply.

“No need to give up now, just because we’re late to the game,” she said and leaned forward in her seat. “All right, where do we start?”

Padmé smirked.

*****

Though he had stood before the Jedi Council before, many times, Anakin did not feel the aggravation that usually arose in him when entering the circular room. He moved calmly to stand at the center of the circle and waited for the Council to address him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Obi-Wan step up beside him. The fact that his friend did not take his seat as a member of the Council caused a tremor of confusion and concern to blanket several of the Jedi present. Before anyone could question Obi-Wan, Master Yoda held up a hand, gesturing for silence.

“A great change in you there is, General Skywalker,” Yoda said.

Anakin bowed his head at the Grand Master in acknowledgement.

“A great many changes, I must admit, Master Yoda,” Anakin said.

“Still there, your fear,” Yoda continued, slowly, “Abated, it is.”

Anakin considered how to respond for a moment, knowing that Yoda was likely attempting to draw out his typical response: anger and denial. Anakin often wondered if Yoda might be something of a sadist. He certainly seemed to enjoy poking and prodding at people’s weaknesses. Especially Anakin’s. Though he did not think the littlest Jedi hated him, or even disliked him to be honest, he did feel that Yoda would rather Anakin wasn’t there at all. He had made his opinions on him known many times over the years.

“Yes,” Anakin finally answered, resolving that only the truth could be his way forward. The Force seemed to bubble around him in joy at his decision and Anakin could tell the Jedi in the room felt it and wondered what had caused it. “I do carry fear in me, Master Yoda, but I am only human and fear is a natural emotion that humanity must acknowledge.”

The declaration raised more than a few eyebrows, though metaphorically in some cases.

“To the Dark Side, fear can lead,” Yoda replied, eyes narrowing.

Again, Anakin nodded.

“It can, Master Yoda,” he responded, “but refusing to acknowledge one’s fears and not attempting to understand them can also lead to the Dark Side. And that is the reason I am here today, before this Council.”

Yoda’s eyes grew wide. Anakin could hear some of the other Jedi murmuring amongst themselves until the Grand Master once again silenced them with a raise of his hand.

“Come to seek help, have you?” Yoda asked, disbelieving.

Anakin cocked his head, then shook it.

“Not in the way you might think,” he replied. “I come here today, to tell you of what I have learned and to seek your aid in a matter most grave.”

“What you have learned?” Master Windu spoke up, his piercing gaze, that had once made Anakin squirm, locked on him.

Anakin took a deep breath, reached out to the Force for guidance and began to speak.

*****

Anakin watched, silently, as the stars blurred past their ship. He attempted to count each individual point of light but found himself lost quickly and, with a great sigh, allowed his thoughts to turn back to the past few days.

After his meeting with the Jedi Council, which somehow went both better than  _ and  _ about how he had expected, Anakin and Obi-Wan had proclaimed their...retirement...from the Jedi. That caused a lot of outrage amongst the seated Council members but, surprisingly, Yoda had called for calm and had been accepting of their decision. The Council then deliberated and concluded that what they should do was to wait to see what Sidious did before determining their own course of action. This was, of course, what Anakin had expected. However, the Council also agreed that the clone troopers needed to be dealt with and that they should prepare all Jedi for the possibility of Order 66 coming to fruition. That was much more than Anakin had thought they would do and, even more, Yoda himself had told them that the Jedi would align themselves with Anakin and his people if it came to war.

Overall, the whole meeting had been far more positive than he would have believed possible.

Padmé had fared even better. In fact, by the time she had left the meeting room she had secured the fealty of everyone in attendance along with the entirety of the planet of Alderaan to the cause. Bail Organa had vowed that his people would never bow to Sidious and had offered up his home world to Padmé as a base of operations for their Rebellion. Padmé, remembering how Bail and his wife had taken in Leia and raised her with the love and devotion she herself could not give her, had immediately and enthusiastically said yes.

What truly struck Anakin, however, was the destination of his ship. After leaving the Council room, he and Obi-Wan had intended to head directly for the library to begin collecting as many copies of Jedi knowledge as they could get their hands on. They had been stopped by Mace Windu.

_ “I have always done my best to let the Force guide me, Skywalker,” Master Wuindu had said, eyeing him with a keen gaze, “and the Force has never spoken to me as strongly as it does now.”  _

_ Anakin had waited, on baited breath, knowing with absolute surety that Windu’s next words would be astronomical in their importance. He wasn’t wrong. _

_ “I would join you,” Windu continued and both Anakin and Obi-Wan had gawked at him. Windu’s smirk grew. “I have long walked between the Light and the Dark in ways my fellow Jedi eschew. Because of this, I know something of what you are about to face. I would join you and provide guidance if you want it but I also wish to further explore my own path, with your guidance, should you offer it.” _

Anakin had agreed. Of course he had. Having a Force user on their side with the power, knowledge and fierce convictions of Mace Windu would only be a boon.

He had joined the two former Jedi on their way to the library. As they walked, they told him more about their plans. When Anakin had mentioned needing a place to establish their new Order, Windu had been the one to offer up a solution.

_ “I came across a manuscript describing it years ago, as a Padawan,” Mace had said, “a planet now abandoned by the Republic and most peoples but, it was once the epicenter of Force users and their practice. It is the home of an ancient Jedi temple and a planet where the Light and the Dark sides of the Force come together in equal measure. I believe it to be a conduit of the Force, a place where the Force is able to exist as it truly is, regardless of outside influence.” _

And so Anakin, Obi-Wan, Mace and R2D2 found themselves travelling to a tiny, water-filled planet called Ahch-To where they would settle themselves in the relics of the ancient Jedi and build a new order centered around, simply, the Force, Light and Dark, and not rigid ideology.

That this planet was the same one where Anakin had met with the very embodiment of the Force itself, he did not let on to his friends just yet. No, it would be Padmé, a few months later, that let that little cat out of the bag. Mace had been more than intrigued.

*****

19 Years Later

“I still don’t understand why mother insisted we come _here_ for a pilot,” Leia groused, “What could this smuggler possibly offer us that any Rebellion pilot cannot? Or any Rebellion ship for that matter! If our intel is correct, if we finally have the location of the Death Star, we need to have the very best on hand!”

Luke sighed.

“She has her reasons, I’m sure,” he responded softly, as he so often did in the face of his sister’s aggravation. “You know,” he paused, considering her. Leia looked back at him, eyes narrowed. “This could be...one of  _ those  _ things.”

Leia’s eyes widened and she stepped back. Biting her lip in contemplation, she looked at the ground, thinking.

“Do you really think so?” She asked, looking back up at Luke.

Luke nodded.

“Remember the first time we met Yoda? How I reacted? The memories that flooded in?” He asked her. “This guy could be someone from the other timeline. He could be very important to the cause. We may be winning the war against the Empire, Leia, but we still have a ways to go. This man could be the key.”

Leia looked away, staring at the setting Tatooine suns in thought.

Their whole lives, she and Luke had been told stories of their parents’ foray into a now dead future. As they grew up, the twins had spent their time learning to understand the Force from their father and how to navigate politics from their mother. Every so often, their parents would introduce them to someone or someplace and one of the twins (or, rarely, both) would suddenly remember pieces of a life that they would, now, never live. It had been scary, at first, when they were younger. Now, however, they both looked forward to each new discovery. Every piece that fell into place only made them feel more complete.

Luke had developed a close and caring relationship with their father’s adopted brother, Owen, and his wife, Beru. Leia, too, enjoyed their company and cared for them but Luke’s love was simply greater and more pronounced. He treated them with a devotion befitting the people that have loved and raised him when their parents could not.

Leia understood. Her own relationship with Bail and Breha Organa was very much the same. As Bail’s chosen successor to the crown of Alderaan, Leia was both a princess and future senator of her adopted people. While she loved her home planet of Naboo, and was loved by them so much that they had begged her to run for the Queenship, Leia felt a connection to Alderann that was unmatched. Once she completed her training with her mother, she fully intended to join the Galactic Senate as Alderaan’s representative. The Galactic Senate, which was still hanging on by a thread some twenty years after Sheev Palpatine’s attempt to overthrow it and establish the Empire. 

Instead, there were two governing bodies in the galaxy, each with their own allies and armies but the influence of the Empire was waning and it was only their terrifying weapons of war that kept them in any position of power. Anakin often lamented that he should have learned more about the Death Star and its capabilities and location while he was in the future. The past five years, since first learning it was being built, had been spent trying desperately to locate it in the Unknown Regions and destroy it before it could destroy Coruscant, which was no doubt Palpatine’s prefered target.

Wiping out the home planet of both the Galactic Senate and the Jedi Order would leave the Order of the Force - Anakin Skywalker’s band of Force fighters - and the Rebellion which was based both on Naboo and Alderaan, to fight the war. While these two groups were strong and at the center of the fight, without the assistance of the Senate and the Jedi, winning would become even more difficult.

Leia smiled at Luke.

“Well, let’s go find out, shall we?” She asked and looped her arm through his, pulling him toward the cantina door.

Luke let out a bubbling laugh and followed eagerly. Inside, they moved swiftly toward the back of the room, keeping an eye out for a large Wookie and, what their mother had described as, a roguish gentleman in a bantha leather jacket. Luke spotted them first and, after that tell-tale moment of dizziness that came with the return of memories, let out a whoop of joy and yanked Leia in their direction.

Leia braced herself for the same dizzy spell when she locked eyes with the human man sitting at the table, nursing what looked like Corellian whiskey. The man groaned and grabbed his head for a moment but the sound was nearly drowned out by another, deeper groan, from the Wookie sitting across from him. Once Leia’s dizziness passed, she felt tears prick her eyes. The man looked up at her, his own eyes clearing, and he grinned.

“Hey, Princess,” his smirk grew, ‘long time, no see.” He huffed out a laugh, glancing briefly at the tabletop before looking up at her. “I’ve missed you.”

Leia shivered, then smirked back at him.

“I know.”

*****

10 Years Later

The scuttle of little webbed feet across stone woke him, as it did almost every morning, and Ben’s eyes popped open. He sat up with a grin, clutching his blankets to him for a moment before giggling and leaping from his bed. Not even stopping long enough to put on his slippers, Ben crept through the house to the library and out onto the balcony overlooking the lake. There, he hunched down on his knees next to the stone railing and, placing both tiny hands on the pillars closest to him, wedged his head in the space between. Eyes wide, he waited.

A few moments later, a mother quadduck waddled her way out of the brush surrounding the lakeshore, followed by seven tiny quadducklings. Ben held his breath as the smallest of the hatchlings tripped on a rock, it’s four webbed feet failing to keep it upright. The mother quadduck stopped the procession and waggled back to her fallen babe and used her beak to nudge the little one back up. Then, the brood began its trek toward the lake once more and Ben bit his lip as each of the birds expanded their wings and hopped, then floated, into the water.

Ben watched the little birds swim for a while but, as the sun began to rise in earnest, turned away at the soft sound of slippered feet entering the balcony. Ben grinned widely and launched himself from his perch by the rails.

“Grandma!” He cried, joy bursting in his chest.

Padmé laughed and swung her armful around a few times before gathering him up into a big hug.

“Oh my darling,” she whispered, kissing his nose, “how I have missed you!”

Ben scrunched his nose at the tickle of her kiss and gave her a very stern look for a five year old. Settling his hands on his hips just like his mama did when she was talking to his daddy, Ben groused, “ _I’ve_ been here! _You_ were gone!”

Padmé laughed again and ruffled his hair.

“I know, my little prince,” she said, “I was at the senate but, now I am back and we can have some fun!” Ben’s frown curved upward, then he winced at Padmé’s next words, “Were you good for your grandpa?”

Ben fidgeted but was unable to answer before another voice spoke.

“Oh, he only trampled mud into the study, broke the vase in the atrium and refused to go to bed last night,” Anakin Skywalker said, coming out of the library and joining his wife and grandson. 

Ben looked affronted at him.

“But, grandpa! You were all muddy too!” He exclaimed. “And you said the vase was ugly!  _ And  _ you said I could stay up and we ate a whole plate of Wookie Cookies!”

Anakin gasped, holding one hand to his chest.

“Are you telling on me?” He cried.

“Well you told on me!” Ben cried back.

Anakin burst out laughing and Ben peeked up at him, trying not to smile. Padmé shook her head at both of them.

“My boys, such rabble-rousers,” she lamented, allowing a giggle to escape.

Ben squinted at her.

“What’s a rabbid rosser?” He pouted.

“A rabble rouser, darling,” Padmé soothed, brushed her hand through Ben’s unruly curls.

“Just think of your father,” another voice spoke and Ben turned to see his mama and papa, still in their sleep clothes, standing in the doorway. His dad scoffed, looking offended.

“What, me?” Han asked his wife. “I think between the two of us, you are the rabblingsest rouser there ever was!”

Leia sent him a look and Ben giggled. He knew what came next and watched, grinning, as his papa leaned down and kissed the frown off of his mama’s face. Ben slapped his hands over his mouth, laughing hard.

“Papa!” He cried. “Ew!”

Han raised an eyebrow at him.

“Ew? Ew!” 

Ben’s eyes widened at the tone and leapt to his feet, running for the stairs. He didn’t make it but a few feet before strong arms were lifting him and his father was leaving wet, smacking kisses all over his cheeks. Ben cried out in irritation and yet laughing all the same.

“Mama! Help!” He squealed.

After Leia successfully managed to wrestle her son away from his father, only to leave her own slobbery kisses all over Ben’s face, the group retreated inside to breakfast. As he snuggled into his grandpa’s shoulder, Ben looked once more at the quadducks playing happily in the lake.

“See you tomorrow,” he whispered to them.

*****

That afternoon, Ben was sitting in the garden with his grandpa, legs crossed and eyes closed. Every so often, he would peek one eye open, only to find his grandpa already doing the same. After the dozenth or so instance, Anakin sighed.

“Alright, little one,” he said, voice gentle and kind, “I suppose there will be no meditation today.”

Ben bit his lip.

Slowly, he asked, “Can we play sabers?” He widened his eyes in the way he knew his grandpa had a hard time ignoring.

Anakin narrowed his gaze at him but the tremble of his mouth told Ben that he was trying very hard not to smile.

“I suppo…” Anakin started but Ben leapt up with a shout and ran off to the training room before his grandpa could even finish speaking. “All right then.”

Anakin stood, slowly, and took a moment to breath in the fragrant bouquet of the garden. Then, he turned and followed Ben. His progress toward the training room was stopped, however, by Ben himself. Anakin felt the Force signatures just as Ben’s face lit up.

“Uncle Luke! Uncle Chewie!” Ben cried and changed direction, heading instead for the docks. “ _And_ _grandpa Obi!_ ” Ben whooped and hollered all the way down to the river.

“No training at all today, then,” Anakin groused but he could not help but be pleased at the new arrivals.

“Do you think they’ve found it?” Leia asked her father as she walked up beside him.

Anakin worked his mouth, considering.

“No,” he said finally, “they have not. Indeed, I fear Snoke’s origins may never be truly known. We shall simply have to keep our eyes and ears wide open and prepare for his eventual appearance.”

Leia nodded. She knew well that Snoke was still a threat to them, to Ben, even if her son was not the angst, nightmare filled boy he had been the first time around. This time,  _ this time _ , Leia would move the entire galaxy to protect her son from the Dark Sider.

“You know,” Anakin said, tone resigned, “even knowing about Snoke’s evil and his plans to usher in the First Order may not stop it from happening. He rose to power so quickly, and had an army at his back instantly, I fully believe he planned and worked for years to build the First Order before he ever stepped into the public.”

Leia nodded. It was something she had considered herself, both now and the first time around. There was no way Snoke could have moved as quickly as he had if he had not already been working from the shadows.

Another worry, one that had been niggling at all of them for the past few years, had her speaking again.

“And Ben?” She looked up at her father, brow furrowed. “Will he ever remember? Is it better if he doesn’t?”

Anakin frowned.

“I don’t know, dear one,” he replied, “I honestly don’t know.”

Ben didn’t remember anything from the first timeline. No matter who he met or where they took him, it was all new to him. While they all agreed that it could simply be his age, as Leia and Luke did not start getting their memories back until they were a little older, they also worried that it could be the Dark trying to keep it all from him. While Leia didn’t want her son to have to know of what he had done, who he had been, she also knew - by will of the Force - that Ben had to remember. If he didn’t, it would be all too easy for the Darkness to take him once more.

A gentle hand on her arm broke her from her thoughts. Her father’s kind eyes rested on her and she was filled, instantly, with a calming peace.

“We will take things as they come,” he said, “we cannot force this.”

Leia nodded.

“All right,” she whispered, “I can be patient.”

At Anakin’s raised eyebrow, Leia scoffed and turned away, resuming the walk to greet her brother and friends.

*****

Nine Years Later

Padmé paced the galley of the Falcon, clutching the holopad in her hands. She knew her family was waiting to hear what had her so agitated but the wheels in her head simply could not stop turning. Finally, Ben broke the silence.

“Grandma,” he said, calmly, “please tell us what’s wrong.”

Padmé stopped walking and turned to her family.

“I have received a missive from an old friend,” she said, voice trembling. She looked at Anakin and Obi-Wan, “do you remember Sabé?”

Anakin’s brow rose. His hair, now mostly grey, fell over his eyes as he tilted his head.

“Your handmaiden, correct?” He asked. “The one that played your decoy when you were Queen?”

Padmé nodded. She was angry with herself. Angry that she had let such a valuable friendship wain over the years. Angry that she hadn’t been there for her friend. Angry that she had allowed the niggling thoughts from so long ago to be forgotten. Looks familiar, indeed.

“Yes,” she replied, “I just received a call for help from her. Her daughter is missing, along with her daughter’s family.”

Everyone present wilted at that.

“Snoke,” Luke whispered, shaking his head.

For the past several months, there had been report after report of people just vanishing without a trace. Anakin had surmised that it was Snoke, abducting people to fill out his ranks or getting rid of potential and real enemies that could stand in his way. Though he hadn’t yet made himself known, all of the Force users in both the Order and the Jedi had been aware of his presence for at least the last couple of years.

Padmé stepped forward.

“I’m afraid it might be even worse than just that,” she said, voice trembling as hazel eyes flashed across her memory, “Sabé said that her son-in-law worked as one of the archivists in the Library of Naboo. She said he approached her about her work during the war against the Empire. He told her he had found something he needed her to see.”

Han spoke up, sitting on the edge of his seat, worry in the lines of his face.

“Did she know what he found?” He asked.

Padmé shook her head. “No, she said she went to his office to meet with him, it looked like it had been ransacked, like he had been attacked. When she went to their apartment to find them, they were just...gone. She said it looked like they had left in a hurry.”

“Padmé, my love,” Anakin took her into his arms, “we will do everything we can to find out what happened to them. I promise.”

Padmé shook her head again, tears now streaming down her cheeks.

“No, you don’t understand!” She cried, beginning to sob.

Leia crossed the room and put an arm around Padmé’s shoulders and fifteen year old Ben wrapped his long, gangly arms around them all.

“What is it mother?” Leia asked, pleading, “What don’t we understand?”

Padmé took a few moments to gather herself, then broke away from the group hug. She looked, in turn, at each member of her family, face solemn.

“Sabé’s daughter, Keirra, married into an old, highly-respected Nabooian family” she said,” He is a member of Parnelli House. I believe, yes, she said his name is Rori.” She took a deep breath. “They have a daughter, she’s only about five, maybe six...”

Padmé trailed off, trembling, then spoke again, voice breaking halfway through.

“Her name is Rey.”

Silence reigned, then Leia whispered.

“No.” Her voice raised. “No!”

Han stood then, agitation making his movements rigid.

“Are you sure, Padmé? Absolutely sure?” He asked, voice shaking.

“This cannot be,” Luke muttered to himself, “we would have felt it if something happened to her, surely!”

“We have to find her!” Anakin shouted, startling Ben.

In his entire life, Ben had never heard or seen his grandfather lose his cool as he did in that moment. Confused and worried, Ben finally spoke up.

“Who is Rey?”

*****

Though they searched for years, in every corner of the galaxy, the Skywalker-Solo clan never found Rey or her parents. Rumors came in that they had all been killed, that they had joined Snoke and his First Order, or that they had simply never existed at all. But the Skywalker-Solos never stopped looking. Han, Leia, Chewy and Luke took to the stars on longer and longer trips to try and suss out what had happened to Sabé’s family. When Snoke finally emerged from the Darkness and the First Order wrested control from the Galactic Senate with ruthless efficiency, those trips became fewer and further between dealing with the new threat.

Ben never did get an answer as to who Rey was, beyond his grandfather’s lament that she was one of the greatest people he had ever known. The light in his grandfather’s eyes was all but snuffed out after that. Indeed, his entire family acted as though they had lost a member of their own. Ben didn’t understand but he didn’t begrudge them this. Whoever Rey was, she must be important to them. Though how, he could not fathom. It was clear that she had only been a small child when she vanished and no one in his family could possibly have met her, and yet…

And yet…

There were a great many things about his family he was kept in the dark on. He knew that. Sometimes, when they would introduce him to someone or take him somewhere new, they would look at him with an almost fervent expectation. Of what, he did not know. That happened more as he was growing up, however, and became less and less common now that he was a man. Still, it was as though his entire family knew things they should not be able to know. That they had secrets they were keeping from him, not because they did not want him to know but because they weren't sure how to tell him. He knew, too, that they were waiting for something. They were waiting for him. To do what, he couldn't say.

Through it all, though, Ben never stopped learning the Force, learning politics and learning how to fly just like his father and when war finally broke out, he was on the front lines of the Resistance, led by his family. The greatest pilot, the strongest Force user and, technically, a prince; Ben Solo was a name that struck awe into whomever heard it, he was admired by millions across the galaxy and he had no shortage of people throwing themselves at him in the hopes he would give them a second look (he never did).

So why, then, did he feel like something vital was missing?

That feeling would follow him through nearly a decade of war until, one day, he was forced to land on a planet his mother had forbidden him from ever visiting. A planet ruled by a diminutive but fearsome pirate queen.

**Author's Note:**

> This is very short and packs a lot of info into less than 7,000 words but I didn't want to dwell on this part of the story because what comes next is far more interesting. Don't fret if you wanted to learn more about Anakin's new order or how he changed. I will cover some of that in the third and final part.
> 
> Also, Little Ben makes my heart swell. I'm not gonna lie, I teared up while writing that part.


End file.
